Don Carson and John Piper turn 65 this year. One could forgive either of them for feeling they had pulled their weight and it was time to ease up. Neither of them seem to be minded to do so. And in their renewed determination to serve the body of Christ they have been goaded on by this email from one of their friends that I thought was worth sharing. There are a number of godly men today who are setting a similar example to youngsters like me in their mature years. (OK, so I know that to some young people, as I am now 40 I fall into this same older group, but really I still feel young!) I think of men like Jack Hayford who devotes serious amounts of time and energy to training pastors, and of Packer, Stott, Sproul, and, of course, Terry Virgo who I am sure will not simply relax as he grows older. As we age, may we not give up on serving God ourselves, and especially not on encouraging others in the way that Barnabas turned into an art form.

Perhaps this will prompt someone reading this to renewed faith that you can still be useful for Jesus as you grow older:

” [May I remind you of] Schlatter’s 11th hour productivity—nine critical commentaries, for example, published around or after his 80th birthday.

In fact, he published 13 major works beginning in 1926—four years past his 70th birthday.

This does not count a large number of shorter or more popular works. Nor his university lectures and seminars, which continued until [he was eighty], I believe.

Since neither of you smokes cigars at the rate he did (unless your Spurgeon sympathies are even more comprehensive than I am aware), you may well have even higher energy levels for even more years. May God grant it!”

Read more on John Piper’s blog.

I can’t offer two conferences for the price of one, but I can—in one post—discuss two conferences which, for all the similarities of their names, do have some important differences. For a start, they are on opposite sides of the Atlantic, so booking into the wrong one would be a significant logistical headache! I am quite sure, however, that many will cross the “pond” to attend one of what I am calling the “Together” conferences. In fact. they don’t happen at the same time, so it is very possible for you to attend BOTH if you want to, as at least one blogger I know is considering!

Both conferences have one important thing in common—they are filling up FAST and expect to be sell-outs, having to turn people away. Hotel rooms are disappearing even more rapidly for both events. Since I have now firmly booked my own place on the second one (sadly I can’t make the first), I feel safe to remind you, my readers, that it is time to MOVE QUICKLY!

TOGETHER FOR THE GOSPEL (T4G)
Tuesday April 15 – Thursday April 17, 2008
Kentucky International Convention Center, Louisville, KY
BOOK HERE

TOGETHER ON A MISSION (TOAM)
Tuesday July 8 – Friday 11, 2008
Brighton Conference Centre, UK
BOOK HERE